Blood
by ShayaSar
Summary: Let's just say, this has lots of angst. JackxIanto


He looked at his hands. They were covered in blood. So much blood. Thick drops were falling to the ground, splashing in the blood that was already there and formed a big puddle. His gaze wandered downward, he was kneeling in the blood, it was seeping through his pants.

Above his head was a flickering light bulb, casting everything in living shadows. Moving shadows. He started to tremble, the shadows came closer, surrounding him. Something brushed against his back and he let out a strangled scream and fell forward, his hands stopping his fall but diving into the blood. The blood was still rising, it went up to his wrists. Panicking, he pulled his hands back out, disturbing the smooth surface of the red fluid. The shadows came closer again.

He ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't move. Clasping his hands in front of him he just hoped it would be over soon. The blood gurgled around him and he felt waves of it splashing against his thighs. A low moaning noise started to overtone everything else. He moved his hands over his ears, trying to shut out the horrible sounds. Desperate whimpers escaped through his lips and he started to rock forwards and backwards, again and again.

Suddenly something wet touched his face. When he opened his eyes he saw that the blood had formed a body and was reaching out to him. The whimpers became a strangled scream and he threw himself backward, falling in the sea of blood. The thick liquid engulfed his body, seeping through his clothes and clashed down on his face. He was struggling, throwing his arms around to get back to the surface. In his panic he opened his mouth and the red fluid flooded in his mouth, choking him.

Then two hands grabbed him and pulled him up, he broke through the surface, spitting out the blood, still choking on the iron taste in his mouth. Grabbing blindly at the two arms that held him up, he blinked his eyes open.

The face in front of him was covered in blood as well, the hair hung down in sticky strands, but the most unsettling thing was the gross seam across the forehead. He started to scream again, struggling to get away from the creature that was holding him.

"You killed me!" The creature spoke in a raspy voice as if it hadn't been used in a long time.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!" He screamed louder and louder, his voice flipping over in a higher pitch. He threw his fists out blindly hoping to hit the creature, hoping to get away from this horror, his feet scrambling in the slick blood to find some sort of grip but utterly failing.

He doubled the effort when the hands pulled him closer again, shaking him.

"Noooooooooooooo!"

"Open your eyes!"

The voice was different this time, familiar, secure, but he didn't trust it. He squeezed his eyes shut and continued to struggle against the hands at his shirt, he even managed to aim a kick at the creature and was satisfied when he heard a pained groan.

"Stop it, snap out of it!"

The voice again, still familiar and secure but somehow pressed out as if the creature was in pain. Right, he had kicked it! Determined to get another blow at the creature he lifted his leg, but was pinned down again. A weight settled down on his legs and the hands moved from his chest to capture his arms. No, no, no, no, no! The panic rose to new levels.

"Ianto, please!"

What? His eyes snapped open, the blood had gone, the shadows had gone, but he was still pinned down by the creature. And it lowered its face, coming closer inch by inch. He started screaming again, pulling at his arms, trying to get free.

The face came down, it was a mix of Jack and Lisa, a bloody mess. It opened its blood dripping mouth and shouted, "IANTO!"

Opening his eyes with a scream, Ianto stared into Jack's eyes just inches in front of him. Still in panic, he tried to get away but couldn't move, Jack had pinned him down. His breath was going fast with gasps in between, Ianto's eyes darting around, searching for the creature.

"Ianto, it's me. You're safe! Listen to my voice. You had a nightmare, it's all gone now. You're in the Hub, you're in my bed. Shhhhh."

Jack tried to keep his voice calm and even, although he felt everything but. It had been almost impossible to wake Ianto up. The young man had been screaming and struggling and had delivered a well aimed kick to Jack's groin. Jack hadn't been that scared in a long time. He didn't know what else to do except pinning Ianto down and calling his name again and again.

"Jack?" Ianto finally calmed down a bit and looked around unsure.

"Yes. And you're safe, it was only a dream," Jack let go of Ianto's hands and laid down beside him, pulling the trembling man to his chest. "I've got you, you're safe."

Ianto was still confused and virtually crawled into Jack as close as he could get, clawing his hands in Jack's t-shirt.

"Shhh, I've got you, no one can harm you here, you're safe."

Stroking soothing circles on Ianto's back, Jack felt the young man relax slowly but the trembling still hadn't stopped. This hadn't been the first nightmare Ianto had experienced, but it was by far the worst. "Want to talk about it?"

Jack felt Ianto shaking his head mere inches, but he wasn't sure if he should let it go. "It was a really bad one this time. I couldn't wake you up, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," came a mumbled reply.

"Oh no, Yan, you don't have to apologize. I'm just glad you're still with me!" Jack tightened his embrace and placed a kiss on Ianto's head.

"There was so much blood..." Ianto's voice was so low, Jack could hardly make out what he was saying. "I was drowning in it, something grabbed me, I think it was Lisa... She said, I killed her," Ianto almost choked on the words and then the tears came. First slow and quiet but soon Ianto's body was shaking from sobs. All Jack could do was hold him tight and whisper soothing words into his lover's ear.

"You didn't kill her, Ianto. She died in the battle. It wasn't your fault. The girl you brought here wasn't Lisa anymore, everything Lisa was, had already been gone. I know you don't believe me and you hate me for killing the cyber girl, but there was nothing we could have done. Nothing you could have done. And I hope you will forgive me one day."

The sobs had slowly subsided and Ianto lifted his head for the first time. His eyes were red and swollen and Jack could see the desperation in them.

"I have forgiven you, Jack, don't you know that?"

Jack smiled down at Ianto, brushing the last tears away with his thumb.

"I know you want to forgive me, but I think there is still a part in you that can't. The same part that can't forgive yourself, the one that comes out at night and brings the nightmares." Jack bent down and pressed his lips on Ianto's. It was just a chaste kiss, but it meant so much more. "But I will try everything to convince that part to forgive us both."

Ianto stared at Jack. He knew the other man was right, he still hadn't forgiven himself completely. He was still not at peace with himself for surviving, for not being able to help Lisa, for betraying Jack and the team.

"Come on, try to get back to sleep. I will chase the bad dreams away," Jack gave him a lopsided grin.

"Could you just hold me for a while?"

"I will hold you forever, Ianto Jones."

Switching off the light, Jack settled down and pulled Ianto close to him, smiling when he felt the younger man snuggling even closer.

That wasn't the last of it, but for now the bad dreams were banned.


End file.
